APPLICATION 

OF 

PSYCHOLOGY 


TO     THE 


W.  N.  HAILMANN. 


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W.  N.  HAILMANN 
MEMORIAL 

UNIVERSITY  OF  CAUFORNIA 
AT  LOS  ANGELES 


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FRIZi:   ESSAY; 
Award  of  American  Institute  of  Instruction. 


APPLICATION 


PRINCIPLES  OF  PSYCHOLOGY 


WORK   OF   TEACHING. 


BY 

W.    N.   HAILMANN,   A.   M., 

Author  of  "Kindergarten  Culture,"  "History  of  Pedagogy,"  etc. 


Pttblisbcli  lip  orUer  of  tlje  ^oarti  of  T>ivtttov0, 


BOSTON, 

WILLARD    SMALL, 

1884. 


Copyright,  1884, 

BY 

American  Institute  of  Instruction. 


Preis  of  \V.  F.  Brown  &  Co.,  218  Franklin  St. 


4 


CONTENTS. 


Ed./Psych. 
JJbrary 

Le 
10  51 

H/a. 


I.  EDUCATION  :  FACTORS  AND  IDEALS,    ...          5 

^  li-     NATURE  AND  DESTINY  OF  MAN 7 

O 

"~        III.    PROVINCE  OF  PSYCHOLOGY, 8 

<^ 

'-'         IV.  PSYCHOLOGICAL  DEVELOPMENT: 

2: 

«5  (1).      GENKltAL   FEATURES,                ....              9 

(2).      LIMITATIONS   OF   SCIENCE,  ...  11 

(3).      INSTINCT 13 

>- 

^  (i),      INFLCENCE   OF  ACTION,          ....           14 

C^ 

EE  (5).      LAWS, 16 

_i  V.    LIMITATIONS  OF  SUBJECT, 17 

«         VI.  PERIODS  OF  PSYCHOLOGICAL  DEVELOPMENT,  .        20 


at 


Vn.    ILLUSTRATIONS  : 

(1).      COURSE   OF   STl'DY, 23 

(2).      DISTRIBUTION    OF  TEACHERS,    ETC.,    .  .  31 

(3).      READING   AND  WRITING,        ....  33 

(4).       DieCIl'LINE, 39 


241837 


PREFACE. 


At  no  previous  time  in  the  history  of  education  in  this 
country  have  teachers  and  School  Superintendents  manifested  a 
more  earnest  desire  to  understand  the  philosophy  of  their  work. 
Everything  written  upon  the  subject  is  read  with  interest.  The 
American  Institute  of  Instruction,  through  the  Trustees  of  the 
Bicknell  Fund,  awarded  the  entire  income  of  that  Fund  for  the 
year  1883,  to  the  best  essay  upon  the  Application  of  the  Prin- 
ciples of  Psychology  to  the  work  of  Teaching.  The  committee 
of  award  consisted  of  J.  W.  Dickinson,  Mrs.  E.  N.  L.  Walton,  and 
George  H.  Martin.  Within  the  limit  of  time  allowed  for  present- 
ing the  essays,  thirty  were  received.  Among  these  were  others 
of  considerable  merit ;  but  to  the  essay  by  Prof.  Hailmann,  the 
committee  made  the  award  with  entire  unanimity. 

By  the  conditions  of  the  award,  tlie  essay  receiving  the  prize 
becomes  the  exclusive  property  of  the  Institute.  Electrotype 
plates  have  been  made,  and  an  edition  of  this  essay  is  published, 
to  facilitate  a  study  which  must  be  more  and  more  pursued,  as 
progress  is  made  In  the  art  of  teaching.  The  abstract  read  at 
the  Annual  Meeting  of  the  Institute,  was  received  with  much 
favor,  and  it  is  believed  the  publication  at  the  present  time  will 
meet  a  general  demand. 

Boston,  May,  1884. 


The  Application  of  the  Principles  of  Psychol- 
ogy TO  the  Work  of  Teaching. 


Education  comprises  all  intentional  and  systematic 
influences  upon  the  development  of  the  human  being,  par- 
ticularly of  the  young  human  being  or  chUd. 

This  definition  at  once  separates  educational  factors  into 
two  groups,  —  the  conscious  and  the  unconscious  factors. 
Among  the  former,  the  principal  ones  are  the  parents  or 
their  substitutes,  the  teacher,  and  the  child  himself.  Among 
the  unconscious  factors,  the  leading  ones  are  the  nature  of 
the  child  (i.  e.,  the  inner  growth  of  its  powers),  surround- 
ings, and  society,  as  long  as  it  has  no  direct  interest  in  the 
child. 

We  are  here  concerned  only  with  the  teacher.  Yet  the 
principles  involved  apply  with  equal  force  to  all  educa- 
tional work.  Hence  we  take  no  cognizance  of  the  narrower 
aim  in  the  statement  of  these  principles. 

The  unconscious  factors  can  exert  an  educational  in- 
fluence, only  if  one  or  several  of  the  conscious  factors  aid 
them.  The  richest  surroundings  produce  no  effect  upon 
the  chUd,  if  he  takes  no  interest  in  them ;  hence  it  is  one 
of  the  chief  tasks  of  the  educator  to  arouse  and  direct  this 
interest,  and  to  render  it  consciously  self-educative.  The 
inner  growth  of  the  child's  powers,  his  nature,  may  go 
astray  or  stop  progress  wholly,  if  conscious  educators  do  not 


6  EDUCATIONAL    IDEALS. 

guide  and  foster  it,  or  if  the  child  himself,  after  reaching  a 
certain  maturity,  does  not  consciously  keep  it  in  the  right 
direction.  Natural  development,  surroundings,  and  all 
other  unconscious  factors  alone,  can  no  more  educate  than 
the  hammer  alone  can  forge,  or  tlie  unguided  stream  drive 
the  mill  wheel.  They  need,  in  order  to  become  efficient, 
the  directing  hand  of  the  master. 

This  view  of  education  imposes  upon  educators  the 
necessity  of  devising  a  fixed  plan  for  their  work  in  aims 
and  means.  The  whole  work  should  tend  in  every  part 
towards  distinct  ideals  ;  and  the  path  followed  should  be 
carefully  adapted  to  these  ideals,  and  to  the  nature  and 
destiny  of  the  child. 

The  choice  of  the  educational  ideal  is  of  primary  impor- 
tance, since  upon  it  depends  the  value  of  the  education  to 
the  child  and  to  society.  Of  com'se,  the  educators  have  no 
right  to  choose  ideals  that  deprive  the  human  being  of  his 
liberty,  render  him  hostile  to  society,  or  give  him  only  a 
transient  and  relative  value.  The  ideals  they  have  a  right 
to  choose,  should  give  the  human  being  freedom  in  the 
exercise  of  aU  his  powers,  with  constant  reference  to  the 
welfare  of  society  and  the  advancement  of  the  race,  and 
should  impart  to  him  a  lasting  and  absolute  value.  They 
should  lead  his  taste  to  the  Beautiful,  his  insight  to  Truth, 
his  conduct  to  the  Good. 

Only  wisdom  whose  essence  is  the  striving  for  truth,  and 
virtue  whose  essence  is  the  striving  for  goodness,  can  give 
man  a  lasting  and  absolute  value,  —  a  value  which  no 
vicissitudes  of  life  can  diminish,  which  will  enable  liim  to 
scatter  love  and  to  gatlier  peace.  All  that  fails  to  lead  to 
these,  all  that  liinders  development  towards  these,  aU  that 
refuses  to  heed  the  requirements  of  the  Beautiful,  the 
True,   and  the  Good,    these  highest  criteria   of  feeling, 


NATURE    OF   MAN.  7 

thought  and  conduct,  is  false  education,  and  cannot  be 
considered  here. 

In  his  nature,  the  human  being  appears  as  a  growing 
organism.  He  develops  from  within  outward,  according  to 
certain  organic  laws  which  apply  with  equal  force  to  all 
the  phases  of  his  being.  He  appears  as  a  distinct  imit}'  in 
conscious  opposition  to  all  else ;  a  self-knowing  within, 
placed  over  against  an  all-embracing  without ;  a  growing 
microcosm,  placed  within  a  sustaining  macrocosm ;  a  node, 
where  infinity  outward  and  infinity  inward  enter  into  con- 
sciousness. 

For  purposes  of  study,  it  has  been  customary  to  sub- 
divide his  nature  in  various  ways  ;  but  it  should  be  remem- 
bered that  these  subdivisions  exist  only  in  and  for  science, 
not  in  man.  Thus  the  phases  of  his  being,  which  lie  be- 
tween the  within  and  the  without,  and  through  which  his 
self  is  impressed  by  the  external  or  impresses  the  latter, 
constitute  his  physical  nature.  His  psychical  nature  en- 
ables him  to  comprehend  the  finite  actualities  in  time  and 
space  ;  and  his  spiritual  nature  reveals  to  him  the  infinite 
potentialities,  which  are  the  essence  of  all  being.  Thus, 
too,  the  successive  conditions  of  knowing,  feeling,  and 
willing  are  but  the  three  successive  stages  of  one  and 
the  same  mental  j^rocess  of  complete  cerebration,  in  which 
the  conscious  personality  sees,  becomes  interested,  and 
reacts.  ^ 

The  consideration  of  man's  nature  reveals  to  us  also  his 
destiny.  This  appears  to  us  as  the  conscious  acknowledg- 
ment, in  all  the  phases  of  life,  of  the  unity  which  is  in  him 
and  which,  at  the  same  time,  makes  him  one  with  all,  —  a 
self-conscious  utterance  of  the  Infinite,  f  It  appears  as  the 
establishment  in  conscioixsness  of  full  accord,  between  the 
inner  and   the   outer;    between   the   microcosm    and   the 


8  PROVINCE    OF   PSYCHOLOGY. 

macrocosm ;  between  seeing,  feeling,  and  doing ;  between  A 
experience  and  practice.  ^ 

Practically,  this  implies  mastership,  or  control.  Ob- 
jectively, it  means  control  of  surroundings,  of  the  world ; 
subjectively,  it  means  obedience  to  the  laws  of  being,  or 
control  of  self.  The  conditions  of  control  are  knowledge 
of  the  object  to  be  mastered,  knowledge  of  one's  own  powers, 
and  skUl  in  applying  or  wielding  the  latter,  in  establishing , 
the  needed  harmony  between  self  and  the  object  in  ques- 
tion. Knowledge  comes  from  observation  and  experience, 
skill  comes  from  practice.  It  may,  therefore,  be  said  that, 
proximately,  the  destiny  of  man  is  to  establish  harmony 
between  observation  and  experience  on  the  one  hand,  and 
practice  on  the  other. 

When  we  apply  this  to  individual  human  beings  it  seems 
quite  trivial ;  but  not  so  when  applied  to  man  in  his  rela- 
tions to  mankind.  Here  we  find  him  profiting  by  the 
garnered  knowledge  of  past  ages,  and  adding  to  this  the 
increase  gained  by  him ;  here  we  see  liim  appropriating  the 
observation  and  exf>erience  of  his  generation,  and  scattering 
broadcast  among  his  own  contemporaries  the  yield  of  his 
own  life ;  here  he  submits  in  his  practice  to  the  judgment 
of  men  long  dead,  or  lays  down  rules  for  the  practice  of  his 
children's  children ;  here  he  co-ordinates  his  will  to  that  of 
thousands,  for  the  sake  of  a  mastership  wliich  needs  the 
combined  energy  of  many,  or  thousands  become  willing 
tools  of  his  determination  in  the  service  of  a  common  ad- 
vantage ;  here  we  find  man  in  relationsliips  that  free  him 
from  the  fetters  of  time  and  space,  and  open  to  him  the 
realms  of  the  Infinite. 


/en 


Psychology  is  concerned  with  the  study  of  the  phenom- 
ena 'of  consciousness.     The  growth   and  development   of 


PSYCHOLOGICAL  DEVELOPMENT.  V 

consciousness,  the  natural  history  of  ideas,  emotions,  and 
volitions,  of  knowing,  feeling,  and  willing,  —  constitute  its 
province.  From  the  time  when  an  influence  from  without 
has  produced  a  change  within,  directly  —  though  ever  so 
remotely  —  connected  with  the  subsequent  arousal  of  con- 
sciousness, this  change  becomes  an  object  of  interest  to 
psychology,  and  remains  so,  as  long  as  it  continues  to  exert 
any  influence  through  consciousness  upon  the  conduct. 

Strictly  speaking,  psychology  has  no  interest  in  those 
influences  from  without  as  such,  nor  with  the  actions  them- 
selves which  in  their  aggregate  constitute  conduct,  nor  in- 
deed, with  the  physical  concomitants  of  cerebration  in  the 
body  of  man.  Nevertheless  the  entire  nervous  apparatus, 
and  particularly  that  of  the  senses,  is  so  intimately  con- 
nected with  the  origin  and  evolution  of  the  facts  of  con- 
sciousness ;  and  the  reflex  influence  of  action  upon  ideas, 
feelings,  and  the  will,  is  so  great  that  their  consideration  is 
of  the  utmost  importance  in  applying  psychological  princi- 
ples to  education. 

In  its  general  features,  the  course  of  psychological  de- 
velopment is  simple  enough.  Through  the  agency  of  the 
senses,  outer  influences  cause  disturbances  in  inner  equi* 
librium,  or  sense-impressions.  These  in  due  time  become 
sufficiently  numerous  or  intense  to  arouse  attention,  and 
consciousness  is  born.  So  far  the  process  has  been  mainly, 
if  not  exclusively,  inward  ;  but  very  soon  a  reaction  sets  in 
by  which  the  attention  is  directed  outward,  towards  the 
outer  concomitants  of  the  inner  disturbances.  These  outer 
concomitants  are  found,  the  mind  perceives  their  unity  with 
corresponding  inner  forms  of  consciousness  :  it  has  gained 
perceptions. 

The  inner  disturbances  of  equilibrium,  underlying  these 
formations,    are   more  or  less  permanent  in  the  memory. 


10         PSYCHOLOGICAL  DEVELOPMENT. 

They  may  be  brought  back  to  consciousness  in  various 
ways,  involuntarily  by  closely  related  disturbances  from 
without  or  withm,  or  voluntarily  for  purposes  of  thought 
or  feeling,  when  the  mind  remembers  or  recollects,  fancies 
or  imagines. 

The  frequent  re-arousing  of  perceptions,  containing  similar 
and  dissimilar  features,  gives  to  the  simUar  or  common 
features  in  due  time  a  certain  prominence  over  other 
features ;  these  assume  a  yMas^-independent  existence,  ap- 
proaching objectivity,  in  the  outer  regions  of  conscious- 
ness. To  these  conceptions  the  mind  constantly  refers  its 
perceptions,  and  they  become  the  inner  concomitants  of 
language. 

Subsequently  this  growing  consciousness  learns  to  dif-. 
ferentiate  itself  from  the  external  more  and  more  clearly, 
'  to  recognize  itself  as  subject,  distinct  from  all  else,  as 
object.  Its  concepts  grow  more  and  more  distinct,  as  well 
as  more  comprehensive ;  it  begins  to  understand  relations 
in  the  actual  more  and  more  clearly :  it  has  grown  into  an 
intellect. 

At  last  the  intellect  learns  to  look  upon  itseK  objectively, 
as  it  were ;  learns  to  see  essential  relations  between  the 
inner  and  the  outer,  as  well  as  among  the  inner  and  outer 
respectively ;  discovers  the  intimate  relationship  existing 
between  the  inner  microcosm  whose  soul  is  time,  and  the 
outer  macrocosm  whose  soul  is  space :  it  obtains  an  in- 
sight into  relations  that  partake  of  the  Infinite,  it  has 
acquired  the  power  of  reason,  and  has  risen  to  the  dignity 
of  spirit. 

Thus  the  mind  rises  successively  from  the  sensual, 
through  the  intellectual,  to  the  spiritual  phase  on  the  side 
of  thought. 

A  similar  process  accompanies  this  on  the  side  of  feeling. 


GENERAL    FEATURES.  11 

In  simple  sensation,  the  common  root  of  insight  and  emo- 
tion, the  sense  impression  is  still  so  closely  blended  with  the 
corresponding  feeling  that  it  is  quite  difficult  to  distinguish 
the  two.  Hence  the  same  term  sensation,  designates 
almost  indiscriminately  either  or  both. 

As  soon,  however,  as  the  mind  has  discovered  the  unity 
between  the  inner  and  the  outer  in  perception,  it  has  also 
learned  to  apprehend  beneath  the  knowledge,  and  deeper 
within  itself,  as  even  more  fully  its  own,  the  attendant 
feeling  of  pleasure  or  pain.  This  apprehension  lives  in 
consciousness  as  desire  to  hold  or  relinquish  the  correspond- 
ing form  of  thought. 

Consciousness  becomes  more  and  more  involved  in  this 
desire,  until  the  mind  learns  to  connect  it  more  and  more 
clearly  with  certain  external  conditions  and  their  relation 
to  inner  welfare.  It  then  begins  to  take  a  lively  and  more 
or  less  permanent  interest  in  the  study  of  these  conditions, 
an  interest  which  is  the  mainspring  of  intellectual  activity. 
/  When,  at  last,  the  intellect  has  become  interested  in  itself 
as  an  object  of  thought,  the  feelings  aroused  by  the  discovery 
of  self  in  its  inward  and  outward  relations  to  the  Infinite, 
the  consonances  and  dissonances  of  being  thrill  the  mind 
in  its  innermost  depths,  in  emotions  that  fill  it  to  the  mo- 
mentary exclusion  of  all  else,  and  infuse  it  with  an  intense 
yearning  for  fixing  the  harmonies  or  resolving  the  dishar- 
monies in  suitable  action. 

Of  these  yearnings  there  is  bom,  in  due  time,  a  persistent 
energy  of  action,  which  directs  man  towards  certain  object* 
or  purposes.  It  takes  thought  into  its  service,  as  counselor 
or  guide ;  assumes  control  of  man  ;  and,  as  will,  is  crowned 
the  sovereign  on  whose  wisdom  depends  the  value  of  life, 
inwardly  and  outwardly.  ' 

These  are  some  of  the  landmarks  set  up  by  science  in 


12  PSYCHOLOGICAL    DEVELOPMENT. 

her  eflForts  to  grasp  mental  growth.  It  should  be  remem- 
bered, however,  and  more  particularly  when  we  would 
apply  these  matters  in  education,  that  the  transition  from 
one  form  to  another  is  so  gradual  and  so  continuous  that  it 
is  impossible  to  find  any  form  stopping,  as  it  were,  at  the 
landmarks  of  science.  The  forms  are  always  on  the  move, 
approaching  the  point  of  observation  or  passing  beyond  it. 

Besides,  the  infinite  mobility  of  mental  being  involves 
such  a  complexity  of  co-existent  mental  forms,  that  the 
mental  condition  at  any  given  moment  is  the  resultant  of 
an  infinite  variety  of  mental  activities  in  all  possible  stages 
of  development. 

Similar  difficulties  meet  us  when  we  approach  the  sub- 
ject on  the  side  of  action,  of  the  outward  reactions  or 
utterances  of  mental  states  in  the  various  forms  of  moving, 
voicing,  and  doing.  As  soon  as  sense-impressions  begin  to 
be  formed,  the  mind  reacts  in  a  variety  of  such  utterances, 
more  or  less  to  the  point.  Similarly,  perceptions  and 
desires,  conceptions  and  interests,  insight  and  emotion 
react  outwardly  in  a  manner  so  direct  and  to  the  point,  that 
it  is  difficult  to  distinguish  these  actions,  with  reference  to 
their  sources,  not  only  from  each  other,  but  even  from 
those  of  the  will. 

In  fact,  all  these  actions  and  utterances  are  as  complex 
in  their  sources  as  the  mind  is  in  its  conditions  of  con- 
sciousness. Hence,  j^racticaUy,  the  first  utterances  of  new- 
born consciousness  have  somewhat  of  the  will  in  them ; 
while,  on  the  other  hand,  the  actions  of  the  maturest  will 
are  more  or  less  influenced  by  lower  forms  of  thought  and 
feeling. 

However,  some  scheme  like  the  one  indicated  above  is 
indispensable  for  systematic  educational  work.  For  more 
convenient   survey,  therefore,  the   chief   features  of  that 


INSTINCT. 


18 


scheme  are  presented  below  in  condensed  form,  roughly 
tabulated. 


5  . 

.if 


fV/LL. 

•»- -I-    -► -► 


Insight, 

4.(Bea«>nO 


Concettton. 
4.CInteUeet.) 


Conduct. 


Emotion.- t 

4.       Artistic  Rep- 


Interest. 


Langtiage. 


Perception. 

4(Intnition.) 


Manual  Sense- 
Desire. 4 


"  Reflex^  Action."        \ 


■•^t 


-ACTION. 

^  \     + 
i 


Instinct \ 


SENS  A  TION. *- 4 

+        +        + 
IMPRESSIONS. 


The  only  additional  explanation  that  is  needed  concerns 
the  place  of  the  instinct.  This  has  been  purposely  placed 
at  one  side  of  the  main  table,  as  a  form  of  reaction  in  the 
feelings,  attending  sensation,  but  playing  a  vanishingly  sub- 
ordinate part  in  the  development  of  the  human  will,  which 


14         PSYCHOLOGICAL  DEVELOPMENT. 

is  the  chief  concern  of  education.  Instinct  appears  as  a 
vigorous  offshoot  of  inner  reaction  with  much  native 
energy,  sufficient  in  the  lower  forms  of  life  to  rise  to  a 
wonderfully  high  degree  of  perfection  in  securing  expe- 
dience of  action. 

In  the  application  of  these  principles  to  education,  it  is 
further  necessary  to  take  into  account  the  reflex  influence 
which  in  any  given  psychological  process  runs  back  from 
action  to  its  source.  Action,  in  satisfying  a  desire,  in 
gratifying  an  interest,  in  expressing  an  emotion,  by  a  reflex 
influence  strengthens,  purifies,  idealizes  these  forms  of  feel- 
ing, and  through  them  their  corresponding  forms  in  thought. 
Hence,  action  is  a  most  powerful  instrument  in  the  hands 
of  the  educator  for  quickening  all  forms  of  thought-growth 
from  perception  to  insight. 

Through  action,  the  internal  becomes  external ;  the 
inner  assumes  an  outer  existence  in  the  terms  of  the  outer. 
Thus  an  opportunity  is  afforded  for  testing  the  correctness 
of  the  inner  conceptions,  with  reference  to  their  outer  con- 
comitants, by  5'Mast-direct  comparison.  The  contrasts  be- 
tween the  original  outer  concomitant  and  the  outer  repro- 
duction of  the  conception  appear  as  inaccuracies,  deficiencies, 
exaggerations,  and  other  faults  that  call  for  correction. 
Thus  action  pushes  conception  steadily  and  surely  nearer 
to  objective  truth. 

It  is  for  a  similar  reason  that  language  plays  so  impor- 
tant a  part  in  mental  growth.  It  is  true,  words  are  but 
symbols  of  the  inner  thought-forms,  incapable  of  the  objec- 
tive reality  of  plastic  or  graphic  representation.  They 
merely  arouse  in  the  mind  of  the  hearer  the  corresponding 
thought-form  in  terms  of  his  own  subjective  thought.  Yet 
they  are  capable  of  expressing  relations  of  being  with 
almost  specific  precision  and  clearness.     Hence,  language 


INFLUENCE    OF   ACTION.  15 

is  the  chief  instrument  of  the  mind  in  its  analj'ses  and 
syntheses  of  observation  or  invention,  of  fancy  or  imagina- 
tion. 

If  plastic  and  graphic  sense-representations  are  of  the 
utmost  value  in  establishing  a  substratum  of  reliable  per- 
ceptions, language  is  indispensable  in  the  operations  of  the 
intellect,  while  the  needs  of  the  creative  spirit  are  supplied 
by  art.  In  their  essence,  however,  all  sense-representa- 
tion, language,  and  art  are  but  variations  of  action,  and 
owe  their  educational  value  to  the  reflex  influence  of  action 
upon  mental  development. 

In  the  case  of  the  will,  action  appears  a  conduct,  which 
as  practice,  exerts  a  powerful  reflex  influence  in  fixing  the 
will  into  habit,  and  establishing  the  character. 

The  primary  conditions  under  which  psychological  de- 
velopment takes  place  are,  then,  the  following:  First,  an 
active  external,  capable  of  making  impressions  ;  second, 
an  active  internal,  capable  of  actively  receiving  these  im- 
pressions, of  spontaneously  placing  itself  in  consciousness, 
opposite  all  else,  and  of  controlling  the  external  for  inner 
needs.  And,  primarily,  the  business  of  education  is  to 
adjust  surroundings  with  reference  to  these  inner  needs, 
and  to  supply  ample  opportunity  for  suitable  activity  on  the 
part  of  the  pupil. 

In  practical  work,  this  simple  business  of  education  is 
beset  with  untold  diflSculties,  arising  from  inadequacies  of 
actual  condition  and  development  on  the  part  of  teacher 
and  taught,  as  well  as  from  perversions  and  interferences, 
due  to  hosts  of  unforeseen  and  uncontrollable  influences. 
There  is  need  for  much  guarding  and  correcting,  bidding 
and  forbidding,  preventing  and  compelling ;  yet  the  aims 
of  all  these  labors  look  towards  the  adjustment  of  surround- 
ings or  the  supply  of  opportunities  for  activity. 


16         PSYCHOLOGICAL  DEVELOPMENT. 

The  processes  of  psychological  development  follow,  in 
their  essential  features,  the  general  laws  of  organic  develop- 
ment, manifested  also  on  the  physical  side  of  being.  There 
is  here,  too,  a  more  or  less  active  apprehension  and  taking- 
in  of  material  for  growth  from  without,  a  separation  as  in 
digestion,  of  the  serviceable  from  the  unserviceable,  an  ab- 
sorption of  the  serviceable  into  the  mobile  contents  of  the 
circulatory  system  of  the  memory,  an  assimilation  from  this 
in  the  various  higher  forms  of  the  mental  organism,  and, 
ultimately,  full  participation  of  the  assimilated  portions  in 
the  conscious  spontaneity  of  the  mind.  There  are,  too, 
processes  of  substitution  of  new  thought>-material  for  old, 
processes  of  waste,  of  wear  and  tear,  of  death  and  decay, 
processes  by  which  unsuitable,  effete,  injurious  material  is 
expelled,  and  many  similiar  analogies  that  remind  us  of  the 
unity  of  law  presiding  over  the  diversity  of  phase  even  in 
this  most  complex  of  facts,  the  human  being. 

These  laws  of  development,  however,  are  laws  of  organic 
being,  and  have  no  bearing  upon  the  fundamental  char- 
acter of  the  various  phases  as  such.  The  psychological 
cannot  become  physiological,  nor  the  physical  spiritual, 
though  the  manifestations  of  these  phases  naturally  cor- 
respond with  the  development  of  the  being  of  which  they 
are  phases. 

Thus  physical  development  means  more  compact,  stronger, 
more  active  muscles,  and  a  better  adaptation  of  physical  life 
to  material  conditions.  Mental  development  means  more 
vigorous,  more  intense,  more  vivid  mind-power,  and  a 
nearer  approach  to  objective  truth  in  subjective  convictions ; 
moral  development  means  purer  feelings,  better  regulated 
appetites,  stronger  will,  firmer  character,  higher  aims  in 
life,  a  keener  sense  of  responsibility,  and  a  deeper  apprecia- 
tion of  the  relationship  that  binds  all  to  all. 


LIMITATIONS    OF    SUnjKCT.  17 

Organic  development,  and,  therefore,  psychological  de- 
velopment requires  time,  i.  e.,  it  is,  relatively  speaking, 
slow ;  it  is  gradual,  continuous,  self-active,  —  psychological 
self-activity  implying  spontaneity  of  purpose  and  freedom 
of  action. 

It  seems  unnecessary  for  the  purpose  of  this  essay  to 
carry  the  analysis  any  farther.  The  relative  slowness, 
gradualness,  continuity,  and  self-activity  of  psychological 
development,  its  primary  conditions,  and  its  course,  furnish 
satisfactory  criteria  for  methods,  courses  of  study,  appliances, 
and  other  matters  that  enter  into  the  details  of  the  work  of 
teaching. 

The  proximate  end  of  teaching  is  the  communication  of 
knowledge.  Training,  or  the  systematic  guidance  of  con- 
duct, is  not  teaching,  but  may  be  used  for  purposes  of 
teaching,  as  also  teaching  may  be  taken  into  the  service  of 
training.  Together  they  comprise  the  chief  activities  of 
the  educator  in  his  direct  intercourse  with  the  pupil.  Their 
ultimate  end  is  the  same,  and  lies  in  education ;  but  teach- 
ing approaches  it  on  the  side  of  knowledge,  and  is  primarily 
concerned  with  impressions,  while  training  approaches  it 
on  the  side  of  conduct,  and  is  primarily  concerned  with 
actions.  Without  training,  knowledge  is  barren ;  without 
teaching,  conduct  is  blind.  Teaching  gives  freedom  to 
conduct ;  training  gives  mastership  to  knowledge.  Teach- 
ing leads  in,  training  leads  out. 

In  discussing  the  application  of  psychological  principles 
to  the  work  of  teaching,  it  wUl,  then,  be  necessary  to  con- 
sider training  and  leading-out  processes  in  so  far  as  they  in- 
fluence by  reaction  the  leading-in  processes,  the  accumula- 
tion of  knowledge,  both  in  character  and  extent. 

Another  limitation  of  the  subject  is  found  in  the  fact  that 


18  LIMITATIONS    OF    SUBJECT. 

the  teaching  here  contemplated  is  not  teaching  in  its  widest 
sense,  but  comprises  in  the  life  of  the  pupil  only  that  por- 
tion of  teaching  which  comes  within  the  control  of  profes- 
sional teachers. 

In  its  widest  sense,  teaching  is  almost  co-extensive  with 
education,  which  in  the  natural  life  of  man  stretches  from 
the  cradle  to  the  grave.  Shortly  after  the  birth  of  the 
chUd  and  for  a  period  of  several  years,  the  parents  and 
other  home-folks  busy  themselves  in  purposely  increasing 
the  child's  knowledge  and  liberating  its  conduct.  At  the 
age  of  five,  six,  or  seven  the  child  enters  school,  where  it 
passes  a  few  hours  during  certain  days  of  the  week,  chiefly 
for  purposes  of  instruction.  Yet,  even  during  this  period, 
which  rarely  extends  beyond  the  eighteenth  year  of  age, 
the  school  does  not  control  all  the  teaching.  The  home 
continues  its  work ;  and  certain  groups  of  persons  (com- 
panions, churches,  associations)  become  interested  in  the 
chUd,  and  add  their  teaching  efforts,  helping  or  hindering 
the  work  of  the  school  according  to  the  character  of  their 
purposes.  After  this  period,  the  child,  or  young  human 
being,  is  left  mainly  to  himseK  to  choose  more  or  less  con- 
sciously and  freely,  among  the  numberless  sources  of 
knowledge,  those  that  may  aid  him  more  or  less  effectually 
in  earnest  efforts  of  self -education,  or  that  gratify  a  more 
or  less  egotistical  pursuit  of  pleasure. 

The  consideration  of  other  limitations  that  may  present 
themselves  in  the  individuality  of  chUd  or  teacher,  in 
heredity,  in  surroundings,  and  other  equally  variable  or  un- 
stable factors  in  life,  must  be  left  to  a  more  detailed  dis- 
cussion than  the  limits  of  this  essay  will  admit. 

These  limitations,  however,  do  not  affect  the  value  of 
the  psychological  principles  indicated  in  the  first  part  of 
this  essay  as  criteria  of  the  work  of  professional  teacliing 


LIMITATIONS    OF    SUBJECT.  19 

in  all  its  phases.  In  matter  and  method,  in  the  presenta- 
tion and  arrangement  of  subjects,  it  should  constantly  con- 
sider the  relative  slowness,  the  gradualness  and  continuity 
of  psychological  development ;  it  should  respect  and  stim- 
ulate seK-activity ;  it  should  regard  primary  conditions, 
controlling  the  character  of  surroundings  with  reference  to 
inner  needs  and  supplying  at  every  step  ample  opportunity 
for  suitable  activity.  It  should  keep  in  view  the  course  of 
psychological  development,  the  fact  that  all  higher  forms 
of  knowledge  rest  upon  the  lower ;  that  perception  pre- 
supposes sensations,  and  that  these  imply  impressions; 
that  conception  feeds  upon  perceptions,  and  that  reason  is 
built  upon  the  intellect ;  that  impressions  can  reach  insight 
only  through  aU  the  intermediate  phases,  and  that  what- 
ever blossoms  in  reason  or  bears  fruit  in  the  will,  has  its 
roots  far  down  in  the  teeming  soil  of  sense-perception. 
It  should  keep  in  view  the  fact  that  all  that  enters  con- 
sciousness is  there  irretrievably,  that  it  must  travel  upward, 
carrying  with  it  the  strength  or  weakness,  the  light  or 
darkness  of  which  it  is  born.  It  should  keep  in  view  the 
fact  that  all  forms  of  knowledge  are  indissolubly  bound 
to  corresponding  forms  of  feeling  —  feelings  of  attraction  or 
repulsion,  of  pleasure  or  pain,  which  determine  in  a  great 
measure  to  what  extent  the  corresponding  thought-forms 
shall  participate  in  the  conscious  spontaneity  of  the  mind. 
Lastly,  it  should  keep  in  view  the  indispensable  need  of 
action  for  healthy  and  vigorous  thought-growth.  It  is 
through  action  that  knowledge  becomes  aware  of  its  power 
and  value,  that  it  learns  to  love  and  appreciate  itself,  that 
it  learns  to  know  itself,  as  it  were.  Action  furnishes  the 
rounds  of  the  ladder  by  which  knowledge  under  the  mighty 
incentives  of  feeling  climbs  to  ever  greater  heights,  out  of 
darkness  into  light.     It  is  action  that  makes  the  knowledge 


20  PSYCHOLOGICAL    PERIODS. 

Cft  one  the  knowledge  of  all,  that  makes  progress  a  distin- 
guishing attribute  of  the  race,  raising  generation  after  gen- 
eration upon  the  shoulders  of  its  predecessors,  soimding  the 
cheering  cry  of  excelsior !  even  for  mankind,  and  making 
it  through  countless  ages  as  one  man  in  the  conquest  of  the 
Infinite. 

It  is  not  difficult  to  distinguish  in  the  psychological 
development  of  the  individual  human  being  successive 
periods  dm'ing  which  the  successive  phases  of  thought  and 
feeling  manifest  a  decided  predominance  in  the  order  of 
their  development.  There  is  in  earliest  infancy  a  period 
of  sensation,  during  which  consciousness  has  not  yet  learned 
to  look  outward  for  factors  in  its  dawn  of  feeling  and  know- 
ing, a  period  characterized  by  a  peculiar  dreamy  inward- 
looking  expression  of  the  eyes,  and  by  an  equally  charac- 
teristic vagueness  and  indirectness  of  the  weak  muscular 
movements  attending  the  sensations. 

This  is  soon  followed,  still  in  infancy  but  extending  far 
into  childhood,  by  a  period  of  perception,  when  the  mind 
turns  outward,  begins  to  recognize  its  central  position,  its 
sovereign  power,  —  a  period  characterized  by  extraordinary 
activity  inward  and  outward.  The  first  clear  perception 
bursts  upon  the  mind  like  a  sun  after  the  short  dawn  of 
the  previous  period,  kindling  life  in  all  directions.  Whither- 
soever the  mind  turns,  it  sees  the  life  without ;  and  its  de- 
sires, growing  steadUy  in  nmnber  and  urgency,  keep  the 
little  hands  and  arms  and  feet  constantly  on  the  move  in 
efforts  to  bring  this  outer  life  into  subjection. 

For  education  as  a  whole,  this  is  the  most  important 
period  of  life  on  account  of  its  fundamental  character,  and 
on  account  of  its  persistence.  During  this  period,  which 
extends  its  sway  far  into  the  growth  of  intellect,  the  mind 


PSYCHOLOGICAL    PERIODS.  21 

gathers  its  materials  from  which  its  proudest  conceptions, 
its  intensest  thoughts  and  feelings  are  derived  ;  during  this 
period,  it  sets  the  rounds  of  the  ladder  that  is  to  lead  up  to 
whatever  height  it  may  climb. 

The  responsibility  of  adjusting  the  chUd's  surroundings, 
of  providing  opportunities  and  material  for  its  activity,  of 
guarding,  guiding  and  helping  the  chUd  during  this  period, 
rests  chiefly  on  the  parents  and  the  kindergartner.  The 
materials  and  methods  of  the  kindergarten,  as  proposed  by 
Froebel,  are  well  adapted  to  the  individual  and  social  wants 
of  the  child  at  this  period.  The  material  is  so  arranged 
that  with  its  help  the  child,  even  with  very  limited  skill 
and  power  of  control,  can  reproduce  in  outward  form  the 
essentials  of  its  ideas  of  things,  and  thus,  through  repeated 
reflected  perceptions  of  its  own  thoughts,  more  surely 
arrive  at  clear  genuine  conceptions.  The  method  is  such 
that  the  child's  spontaneity  is  always  helped,  and  held 
without  compulsion  in  the  direction  of  the  Beautiful,  the 
True,  and  the  Good.  Without  appreciable  friction,  the 
nascent  selfishness  is  deflected  into  a  deep  concern  in  a 
common  welfare,  the  love  of  power  steers  clear  of  the 
shoals  of  despotism  towards  an  open  sea  of  rational  free- 
dom, all  traces  of  vandalism  vanish  before  the  pleasures  of 
a  healthy  exercise  of  constructiveness,  the  instinct  of  play 
is  taught  to  serve  distinct  purposes  and  to  become  a  spirit 
of  work. 

The  kindergarten,  if  conducted  in  accordance  with  Froe- 
bel's  suggestions,  liberates  the  intellect,  and  thus  hastens 
the  transition  of  the  child  to  the  third  period  of  psychologi- 
cal development,  the  period  of  conception,  without  danger 
to  the  solidity,  compactness,  and  harmony  of  mental  growth. 
During  this  period,  with  which  this  essay  is  more  particu- 
larly concerned,  the  mind  turns  towards  itself  as  an  object. 


22  PSYCHOLOGICAL    PERIODS. 

It  compares  its  notions  of  things  with  the  things  them- 
selves, thus  steadily  correcting  the  former,  rendering  them 
by  slow  degrees  more  and  more  accurate,  more  and  more 
"  true."  It  compares  its  notions  of  things  with  each  other, 
and,  in  accordance  with  certain  differences  and  resem- 
blances, arranges  them  in  groups  and  classes  to  which  all 
its  subsequent  mental  gain  is  referred.  In  due  time  proxi- 
mate groups  are  united  on  the  basis  of  deeper  similarities 
in  remoter  groups;  and  this  process  is  continued  on  suc- 
cessively higher  planes,  until  the  mind  learns  to  hold  all 
in  a  few  simple  terms,  such  as  space  and  time. 

A  deep  and  abiding  interest  rivets  the  mind  to  these 
activities.  In  its  efforts  to  bring  ideas  nearer  to  objective 
truth,  it  patiently  observes  the  external  through  long  periods 
of  time,  continually  strengthening  or  modifying  previous 
notions  in  the  light  of  new  perceptions,  with  an  honesty 
and  conscientiousness  that  partake  of  highest  virtue ;  for 
the  purpose  of  determining  the  true  sequence  of  cause  and 
effect,  it  subjects  the  external  in  painstaking  and  laborious 
experiment  to  certain  conditions,  again  and  again. 

Through  such  processes  it  gradually  arrives  in  various 
directions  at  systematically  connected  criteria  of  knowl- 
edge, which  it  dignifies  with  the  name  of  Science,  whose 
mastery  demands  the  closest  application  and  not  unfre- 
quently  kindles  an  interest  capable  of  filling  a  life. 

The  fields  of  science  furnish  the  soil  that  yields  to  genius, 
in  all  its  forms  and  powers,  however  humble  or  exalted, 
the  harvest  of  inventions  and  discoveries,  of  creations  and 
revelations  that  lift  him  upward  and  teach  him  his  origin 
and  his  destiny. 

The  greater  portion  of  this  period  falls  within  the  limits 
of  the  school,  which  is  the  chief  concern  of  this  essay. 
During  this  period,  the  mind  rises  consciously  from  the 


ILLUSTRATIONS.  23 

concrete  to  the  abstract,  from  the  particular  to  the  general, 
from  the  actual  to  the  possible,  from  the  outer  to  the  inner, 
from  experience  to  principle,  from  facts  to  laws,  from  com- 
plexity to  simplicity,  from  the  extensive  to  the  intensive, 
from  space  to  time  ;  and  the  business  of  the  teacher  is  to 
adjust  surroundings,  and  to  gmde  and  guard  the  pupil  with 
reference  to  these  activities,  so  that  in  the  period  of  insight, 
reason  may  not  fail  him,  and  the  will  may  become  duly 
liberated. 

I  propose  to  show  by  way  of  illustration,  the  application 
of  the  psychological  principles  heretofore  enunciated  in 
the  following  typical  phases  of  the  work  of  teaching:  1. 
A  general  outline  of  a  "course  of  study  "within  the  limits 
of  Primary  and  Grammar  Schools  ;  2.  school  organization, 
with  reference  to  the  distribution  of  teachers  and  pupils ; 
3.  method  of  elementary  reading  and  writing ;  4,  spirit  of 
disciplinary  regulations. 

In  framing  a  course  of  study  for  Primary  and  Grammar 
Schools  it  should  be  constantly  borne  in  mind  that  the 
period  involved  corresponds  chiefly  to  the  earlier  portion  of 
the  psychological  period  of  conception.  When  the  child 
enters  school  it  is  still  gathering  perceptions,  though  upon 
some  things  it  has  quite  clear  and  comprehensive  concep- 
tions ;  and  when  it  leaves  the  grammar  school,  its  intellect 
should  have  grown  into  a  fair  supremacy,  and  the  dawn  of 
insight  into  the  deeper  relations  of  being  should  be  full  up- 
on its  mind.  During  the  first  years  of  school-life,  the  sub- 
jects of  study  should  be  of  a  character  to  facilitate  the 
formation  of  perceptions  and  their  transition  into  compre- 
hensive conceptions ;  they  should  lie  on  the  side  of  the 
concrete,  the  actual,  the  outer ;  they  should  deal  with  ex- 
periences,  with   facts,    with   space,    with   objects.      They 


24  ILLUSTRATIONS. 

should,  then,  gradually  merge  into  forms  that  lie  on  the 
side  of  the  abstract,  the  possible,  the  inner ;  that  deal  with 
principles,  with  laws,  with  time,  steadily  leading  the  child 
out  of  the  complexity  of  things  into  the  simplicity  of 
thought. 

Now,  the  school  can  afford  neither  the  time  nor  the 
labor  that  would  be  required  to  follow  the  child, —  explain- 
ing, guiding,  and  warning  —  through  the  maze  of  facts 
and  phenomena  as  they  occur  in  nature,  and  the  confusion 
of  practical  experiences  of  an  undisciplined  life.  It  must 
invent  more  or  less  artificial  surroundings,  a  world  of 
objects  and  events  more  or  less  idealized,  more  or  less 
systematized,  where  the  child  may  attain  a  fair  understand- 
ing of  the  essentials  of  life  with  as  little  friction  as  possi- 
ble. This  ideal  world  must  be  the  chUd's  and  within  the 
child's  control.  The  chUd  must  not,  as  in  object-lessons,  be 
placed  at  respectful  distances  from  certain  sample-pieces 
thereof,  and  taught  to  repeat  certain  phrases  concerning 
these ;  but  it  must  have  objects  and  material  placed  within 
its  hands  to  be  fully  its  own  for  purposes  of  observation, 
experiment,  analysis,  or  construction.  Again,  these  objects 
placed  within  the  child's  reach,  and  with  the  help  of  which 
it  is  to  attain  the  intellectual  control  of  a  world,  should 
present  their  essential  characteristics  in  unmistakable  dis- 
tinctness, in  striking  and  unavoidable  contrasts ;  and  they 
should  be  such  that  the  child  can  handle  them  not  only 
without  injury  to  itseK  and  these  objects,  but  with  profit  to 
both. 

Abundant  hints  in  this  direction  have  been  given  by 
Froebel  in  the  construction  of  his  gifts,  each  of  which  repre- 
sents in  a  form  readily  controlled  some  simple  essential  fact 
or  relation,  whose  full  apprehension  throws  a  new  flood  of 
light   upon  the  child's  world.     Playing  with   the   simple 


COURSE    OF    STUDY.  25 

blocks,  tablets,  sticks,  lentil  seeds  or  dots,  and  working 
with  sheets  of  paper,  paper  strips,  the  weaving-sheet,  paste- 
board, the  embroidery  -needle,  the  drawing-slate,  sand  or 
clay,  the  child  obtains  successively  clear  notions  and  full 
control  of  various  laws  of  position  and  shape,  divisibility 
and  number,  size  and  gravitation,  symmetry  and  propor- 
tionality of  parts,  and  other  relations  and  qualities  which 
constitute  the  essentials  of  things. 

With  the  help  of  this  simple  material,  the  chUd  is  en- 
abled to  form  concrete  representations  of  the  essentials  of 
things,  in  form,  number,  relations  of  position,  etc.,  immeas- 
urably nearer  the  conceptions  of  the  things  involved  than 
are  the  things  themselves;  thus  the  formation  of  clear  con- 
ceptions and,  consequently,  the  liberation  of  language  and 
of  the  intellect,  are  hastened  without  detriment  to  the  solid- 
ity and  compactness  of  mental  growth. 

The  essentials  of  the  outer  world  that  interest  man  most 
nearly  in  his  efforts  to  obtain  intellectual  control  of  his 
surroundings  are  centered  in  space,  which  in  its  limits  in- 
volves form,  position,  size,  direction,  and  number.  Of 
these,  number  and  size  have  a  special  interest,  inasmuch  as 
they  constitute  the  chief  bridges  in  the  transition  of  the 
mind  from  outer  space  to  inner  time.  To  these  may  be 
added  color  as  an  important  element,  depending  on  certain 
relations  of  material  surfaces  to  light.  Lying  nearer  the 
emotional  side  of  sensation,  it  has  much  power  to  arouse 
interest  in  related  elements  of  space,  hence  its  educational 
value  is  very  great.  The  school  will,  then,  find  the  first 
subjects  for  instruction  with  reference  to  the  pupil's  in- 
dividual development,  in  the  provinces  of  Geometry,  Draw- 
ing, Coloring,  and  Arithmetic. 

Almost  simultaneously,  however,  the  phenomena  of  mo- 
tion and  life  to  which  the  changes  of  position,  direction, 


26 


ILLUSTRATIOXS. 


size,  form  and  number  among  surrounding  objects  are 
referred,  and  which  intensely  affect  the  child's  comfort  and 
weKare,  point  to  studies  connected  with  the  provinces  of 
Physics,  Chemistry,  Natural  History,  Geography,  and 
Uranography. 

Long  before  the  child's  entrance  in  school,  too,  the  help- 
ful presence  of  others  aroused  in  its  heart  feelings  of  grati- 
tude, of  affection,  and  good  will.  These  may  or  may  not 
have  been  brought  more  clearly  to  the  child's  consciousness. 
and  more  fully  within  its  control  in  the  social  games  and 
group-work  of  the  kindergarten.  Howsoever  this  may  be, 
the  school  should  afford  constant  opportunity  for  social 
enterprises,  involving  common  interests,  common  purposes, 
and  common  efforts,  leading  to  an  interest  in  the  occupa- 
tions of  men,  and  the  relationships  among  men.  This  leads 
to  studies  connected  with  Sociology  and  History,  through 
which  man  connects  himself  consciously  with  the  Past. 

In  all  that  relates  to  motion  and  life  and,  consequently,  to 
the  social  phases  of  being,  sound  —  lying  also  nearer  the 
emotional  side  of  sensation  —  plays  a  part  similar  to  that 
of  color  in  the  realms  of  space.  Connected  with  rhythm 
in  the  harmonious  combinations  and  melodious  successions 
of  music,  —  it  has  wonderful  power  in  freeing  the  mind 
from  the  material,  and  leading  it  to  the  spiritual,  and  is, 
therefore,  of  incalculable  value  in  lifting  man  to  the  highest 
planes  of  mental  life. 

The  chief  medium  of  the  work  of  teaching  is  language. 
At  the  moment  when  the  child  is  awakened  to  self-con- 
sciousness, language  appears  as  the  chief  outward  reaction 
of  growing  self -consciousness  in  the  intercourse  with 
others.  Language  binds  man  to  man,  makes  the  Past  an 
ingredient  of  the  Present,  and  holds  this  fast  for  a  Future. 
In  the  development  of  the  intellect  and  of  reason,  it  is 


COURSE    OF    STUDY.  27 

the  medium  of  thought,  the  indispensahle  condition  of 
their  growth.  Hence  language,  with  all  that  pertains  to 
it,  will  furnish  subjects  of  instruction  during  the  entire 
school-life. 

Among  the  many  considerations  of  method  which  it 
would  be  necessary  to  discuss  in  an  exhaustive  treatise  on 
the  subject  involved,  before  deciding  upon  a  "course  of 
ptudy,"  I  refer  here  only  to  two  of  the  most  important. 

The  first  of  these  is  the  necessity  of  a  concentric  arrange- 
ment of  the  subjects  of  study.  This  demands  that,  at  each 
successive  stage,  the  subject  come  to  the  child  as  a  whole, 
that  all  the  roots  of  the  knowledge  and  skill  involved  be 
represented  within  the  limits  of  the  child's  capacity.  This, 
the  child's  capacity,  and  not  the  possibilities  of  the  subject, 
furnishes  the  criteria  for  decision.  From  itself  as  a  center, 
the  mind  penetrates  in  successive  efforts,  in  circles  or 
spheres  constantly  widening  in  all  directions  to  ever  greater 
depths  of  insight,  to  ever  greater  powers  of  control. 

Another  equally  important  consideration  is  the  constant 
need  of  opportunities  for  adequate,  all-sided  expression  on 
the  part  of  the  pupil  both  in  language  and  in  manual 
activity.  This  keeps  alive  the  mightiest  incentive  for 
advancement,  the  sensation  of  power,  and  prepares  the  ^ 
pupil  for  the  business  of  life,  which  means  expression  in  / 
some  form,  of  what  is  in  him. 

For  the  sake  of  showing  the  practical  bearings  of  these 
considerations  in  unmistakable  distinctness,  I  present  be- 
low, without  further  comment,  from  a  course  framed  in 
accordance  with  these  requirements,  the  outline  of  a  first 
circle  or  sphere.  It  comprises  the  first  two  years  of  school- 
life  in  a  system  of  graded  schools,  the  child  entering  at  the 
average  age  of  six  years. 


28  ILLUSTRATIONS. 

FIRST  CIRCLE.     (Two  years.) 

First  group  of  subjects:  Form,  Drawing,  Cohring. 

1.  Form :  Recognition  and  naming  of  the  cube,  cylinder, 
sphere,  pyramid,  and  cone;  of  the  square,  lozenge,  trian- 
gle, hexagon,  octagon,  pentagon,  the  circle,  semicircle, 
quadrant,  and  oval ;  diagonal,  diameter,  radius,  center ; 
straight,  curved,  wavy,  and  spiral  lines ;  of  parallel,  diverg- 
ing, ohlique,  and  perpendicular,  horizontal,  vertical,  and 
slanting  directions ;  right,  obtuse,  and  acute  angles.  — 
Materials  used ;  clay  for  modeling,  tablets,  splints,  papers 
for  folding  and  cutting,  paper-strips,  etc. 

2.  Drawing:  Automatic  exercises  by  dictation  or  other- 
wise, in  simple,  symmetrical  arrangements,  m  networks, 
embodying  squares,  half-squares,  equilateral-triangles,  with 
circumscribed  and  inscribed  circles,  or  arcs ;  language- 
drawing  or  conception-flrawing  (p.  25),  in  simple  outline 
representations  of  things,  involving  only  essentials ;  artistic 
drawing  in  symmetrical  combinations  involving  squares 
and  cu'cles  with  their  subdivisions,  shading  and  hatching, 
leaves,  flowers,  fruits,  birds,  and  butterflies.  The  slate, 
properly  prepared  paper,  the  folding-sheet,  the  sand-table, 
and  clay-tablet  yield  suitable  drawing  surfaces.  The  use 
of  the  dividers  is  admissible,  especially  with  the  clay-tablet 
and  the  folding-sheet. 

3.  Coloring:  Classifying  beads,  dots,  colored  worsteds 
by  their  colors ;  "  rainbow-games"  with  these  and  the 
paint-brush  or  colored  crayon  ;  coloring  squares,  triangles, 
circles,  etc.,  in  symmetrical  arrangements  on  white  folding- 
sheet,  ruled  paper,  or  clay-tablet ;  coloring  leaves,  flowers, 
fruits,  birds,  and  butterflies. 

Second  group  of  subjects  :   Number  and  Size. 
1.  Number:  Counting  "forward  and  backward  "  by  one's, 
two's,  three's,  four's,  and  five's,  addition,  subtraction,  mul- 


COURSE    OF    STUDY.  29 

tiplication,  measuring,  and  division  within  the  limits  (in 
successive  sub-circles),  of  1  to  10,  1  to  20,  1  to  100,  1  to 
1000;  similar  operations,  at  the  same  time,  with  fractions 
within  the  limits,  in  corresponding  sub-circles,  of  halves  to 
fifths,  halves  to  tenths,  halves  to  twentieths  (excluding 
Uths,  13ths,  17ths,  19ths),  and  halves  to  hundredths  (ex- 
cluding all  difficult  denominations)  ;  games  of  exchange,  of 
buying  and  selling,  involving  at  first  only  price,  but  subse- 
quently also  gain  and  loss  ;  games  of  "giving"  and  "guess- 
ing." Material  used:  tablets,  splints,  paper-strips,  beans, 
buttons,  etc. 

2.  Size.  (Measurements):  measuring  and  estimating 
length,  distances,  areas  in  inches,  feet,  yards ;  liquid  and 
dry  measures  of  capacity;  lifting  and  weighing,  within 
reasonable  limits ;  games  of  manufacturing  and  jobbing. 

Third  group  of  subjects  :  Physical  and  Chemical 
Properties,  Natural  History,  Geography  and  Uranography. 

1.  Physical  and  Chemical  Properties  :  Classifying  sub- 
stances by  their  weight,  hardness,  smoothness  of  surface, 
solubility,  fusibUity,  combustibility,  and  similar  properties. 
Suitable  collections  of  substances  may  be  placed  in  the 
children's  hands,  or  made  by  them. 

2.  Natural  History :  Observation  of  plant-growth,  class- 
ifying of  leaves,  flowers,  fruits,  roots,  plants,  and  animals 
by  certain  prominent  characteristics.  Collection  and  de- 
scription of  plants ;   observation  and  descri^ition  of  animals. 

3.  Geography  and  Uranography :  Names  of  days,  months 
and  seasons,  observation  of  Sun's  position  at  stated  times, 
course  of  sun  in  different  seasons  ;  changes  of  moon  ;  car- 
dinal points  of  compass ;  counting  rainy  days  and  days  of 
sunshine;  localities  of  plants  and  animals;  stories  of  re- 
markable plants  and  animals  living  in  distant  countries  ; 
sketches  of  school-room,  the  school,  the  home,  the  way  to 


30  ILLUSTRATIONS. 

school,  certain  prominent  localities ;   bird's-eye  views   on 

sand-table. 

Fourth  group  of  subjects:  Sociology  and  History. 

1.  Sociology:  Social  games,  dramatizations  of  the  occu- 
pations of  men ;  construction  of  railroads,  canals,  bridges, 
tunnels,  etc.,  on  the  sand-tables ;  discussion  and  dramatiz- 
ation of  home  and  school-relations. 

2.  History :  Accounts  of  events  in  the  child's  life ;  anec- 
dotes from  the  lives  of  children. 

Fifth  group  of  subjects  :  Language  and  Music. 

1.  Language :  Conversation  (not  catechizing)  is  at  "the 
very  soul  of  all  the  exercises  heretofore  mentioned.  In 
addition,  there  are  special  exercises  in  the  reading  and 
writing  of  simple  sentences  and  words;  in  word-buildmg 
from  sound-elements  found  with  or  by  the  children;  in 
contrasting  and  combining  classes  of  words  in  accordance 
with  a  variety  of  criteria  of  form,  sound,  meaning,  or  con- 
struction ;  in  labeling  and  taking  notes  in  connection  with 
other  subjects  of  study ;  in  the  writing  of  short  orders,  ac- 
counts, letters  and  stories  ;  in  reading  for  pleasure  or  profit 
from  books  and  periodicals  within  the  scope  of  the  child's 
powers. 

2.  Music:  appears  incidentally  in  the  social  games  and 
dramatizations  of  the  Fourth  Group ;  but  there  should  be 
special  exercises  in  which  the  child  is  drilled  in  the  recog- 
nition and  production  of  sounds  in  pitch,  relative  duration, 
in  melodious  and  harmonious  arrangement.  The  inherent 
emotional  qualities  of  music  are  brought  to  the  child's  con- 
sciousness with  the  help  of  marches  led  by  thoughtful 
improvisations  on  a  musical  instrument. 

A  course  similar  to  this,  satisfies  the  child's  intellectual 
wants  in  all  directions;  it  is  well  rounded,  as  a  whole  and 
in  all  its  parts ;  it  never  leaves  the  child's  knowledge  in  a 


DISTRIBUTION    OF    TEACHERS,    ETC.  31 

fragmentary  condition.  The  child  can  and  does  constantly 
make  use  of  aU  it  learns  for  the  immediate  purposes  of  its 
life,  and  its  school  is  indeed  a  preparation  for  life.  Every 
new  circle  does  not  so  much  complete  the  knowledge  pre- 
viously gained ;  but,  startuig  again  from  the  same  center, 
the  child,  it  extends  this  knowledge  to  wider  fields  and 
greater  depths ;  and  all  the  time,  the  development  of  tact 
and  skill,  of  taste  and  foresight  in  the  application  keeps 
pace  with  the  new  acquisitions.  Thus,  in  due  time,  science 
may  be  reached  on  the  side  of  knowledge,  and  art  on  the 
side  of  skill. 

In  considering  the  distribution  of  teachers  and  pupils,  it 
is  to  be  taken  for  granted  that  the  teachers  are  well  fitted 
for  tlieir  work  in  professional  knowledge  and  skill,  as  well 
as  in  all  the  qualities  of  head  and  heart,  needed  for  the 
work.  The  question  then  rests  wholly  with  the  individual 
and  social  wants  of  the  child,  and  these  point  unmistakably 
to  the  desirability  of  grading.  These  wants  will  be  best 
satisfied  among  those  who  belong  to  the  same  cu-cle  of 
development.  Here  the  child  wiU  find  the  material  best 
adapted  to  its  requirements ;  in  these  surroundings  it  wUl 
feel  the  keenest  interest,  and  find  the  readiest  appreciation. 
Where  it  is  feasible,  even  the  children  of  sub-circles  should 
be  arranged  in  separate  groups.  By  the  union  of  con- 
tiguous circles  the  attention  of  the  pupil  and  the  energies 
of  the  teacher  become  scattered,  and  there  is  great  loss  of 
interest  on  the  one  hand,  and  of  power  and  efficiency,  on 
#ie  other.  This  is  quite  apparent  in  some  country  district 
schools,  where  children  of  all  grades  are  united.  If  these 
schools  ever  attain  an  alleged  superiority,  it  is  due  chiefly 
to  the  fact  tliat  they  do  not  hinder  development,  where- 
as badly  conducted  graded  schools,  built  on  fragmentary 


32  ILLUSTRATIONS. 

courses  of  study,  do  positive  harm  by  repressing,  deflect>- 
ing,-or  iuisettling  development  in  a  variety  of  ways. 

On  the  other  hand,  it  is  desirable  that  occasions  be  pro- 
vided at  more  or  less  regular  intervals,  when  the  children 
of  contiguous  circles  are  brought  together  for  exercises 
more  or  less  festive  in  character.  Here  the  younger  are 
encom'aged  by  the  joy  and  help  they  can  give  to  the  older 
whom  they  esteem  so  highly ;  and  the  higher  achievements 
of  the  latter  of  which  they  are  witnesses,  furnish  whole- 
some and  fertilizing  incentives  to  effort,  while  the  older 
pupils  are  taught  to  feel  the  joy  of  leadership  and  the  re- 
sponsibility of  example. 

In  the  transfers  from  one  circle  to  another,  the  degree 
and  character  of  mental  development  should  furnish  the 
chief  criteria,  the  amount  of  knowledge  and  skill  acquired 
being  indeed  significant,  but  of  secondary  importance.  The 
practice  of  deciding  wholly  by  the  amount  of  positive  knowl- 
edge acquired,  is  pernicious.  A  certain  degree  of  intellect- 
ual maturity  will  be  sure  to  reach  in  the  various  subjects  of 
study  a  bearable  equality  Avith  agreeable  and  helpful  com- 
panions, under  the  leadership  of  a  tactful  teacher.  On  the 
other  hand,  a  pupil  whose  advanced  intellectual  powers  are 
condemned  by  lack  of  knowledge  in  certain  directions  or 
details  to  confine  themselves  to  inadequate  material  and 
within  a  forcibly  contracted  scope,  will  lose  interest  and 
waste  life,  and  will  exercise  b)"^  contagion  a  baneful  influ- 
ence even  upon  otherwise  well-conditioned  companions. 

The  teacher  should  follow  her  pupils  at  least  through 
the  phases  of  one  circle  and,  if  possible,  through  molte 
circles  than  one.  This  avoids  the  friction  of  becoming 
acquainted  with  each  other,  and  the  consequent  loss  of 
energy  and  interest.  Indeed,  this  is  necessary  in  order 
to  secure  on  the  part  of  the  teacher  that  interest  in  the 


READING    AND    WBITING.  33 

child  as  such,  and  on  the  part  of  the  pupil  that  faith  in  the 
good  will  of  the  teacher,  which  are  so  essential  to  success. 

In  settling  upon  suitable  methods  of  teaching  the  arts  of 
reading  and  writing,  it  should  be  kept  in  mind  that  reading 
and  writing  do  not  constitute  language,  but  only  those 
phases  thereof,  respectively,  in  which  expressions  in  lan-^ 
guage  are  fixed  in  symbols  for  an  indefinite  period,  or  in 
which  expressions  so  fixed  are  deciphered  for  purposes 
of  pleasure  and  profit.  Reading  and  writing  should  at  all 
times  be  so  managed  that  the  child  may  make  full  use  of 
all  it  learns  for  the  purposes  of  its  life  in  and  out  of  school. 
The  matter  should  be  kept  within  the  scope  of  the  child's 
powei-s  of  understanding  and  appreciation,  and  should  be 
presented  in  a  shape  that  will  provoke  the  child's  self- 
active  efforts  in  the  use  and  practice  of  these  arts. 

Here,  as  elsewhere,  the  necessary  simple  cognitions 
should  be  obtained  from  a  concrete  outer  complexity,  by 
processes  of  analysis ;  and  all  elements  thus  gained  should 
be  successively  verified  and  fixed  by  varied  use  in  all-sided 
synthesis.  Strictly,  therefore,  the  teacher  should  begin 
with  suitable  sentences,  from  which  the  child  obtains  by 
analysis  certain  words,  which  may  be  used  in  new  combi- 
nations for  a  variety  of  purposes.  From  these  words  it 
descends  by  new  analysis  to  more  or  less  complex  combinar 
tious  of  sounds  and,  ultimately  to  simple  sounds,  and  uses 
these  again  in  word-building.  However,  it  is  perfectly 
safe,  in  most  cases,  to  begin  at  once  with  the  analysis  of 
words,  inasmucli  as  the  child  usually  reaches  the  word- 
stage  before  entering  school,  even  if  it  has  not  had  the 
benefit  of  the  kindergarten. 

The  words  for  the  first  teaching  should  be  selected  from 
the  child's  experience  and  conversational  vocabulary,  so 
that  they  may  be  to  the  child  genuine  symbols  of  ideas  of 


34  ILLUSTRATIONS. 

actual  things,  and  not  mere  arbitrary  combinations  of 
sounds.  These  words  should  be  simple,  too,  in  form  and 
soimd,  easily  recognized  and  readily  used  in  plain  state- 
ments by  the  child,  conditions  that  are  fulfilled  by  mono- 
syllables that  embody  short  vowel-sounds.  The  child  may 
be  mterested  in  a  number  of  these  by  short  stories,  con- 
versations and  pictures,  e.  g.,  —  dog,rat^  trap,  cat,Jish,  net, 
pot,  pin,  etc;  wet,  fat,  black,  hot,  thin,  etc;  can,  run, 
swim,  purr,  etc.  To  these  should  be  added  in  the  first  or 
second  exercise,  a  few  such  words  as,  —  the,  is,  in,  my;  and 
the  child  is  ready  for  sentence-building  to  a  limited  extent 
It  may  form  sentences  such  as,  —  the  dog  can  run,  the  cat 
is  fat,  the  rat  can  run,  the  rat  is  in  the  trap,  the  fish  is  in 
the  net,  the  pot  is  hot,  my  dog  is  thin,  etc.,  in  a  variety  of 
speaking  and  writing  games  in  which  the  teacher  gives 
some  portion  of  a  statement  which  the  pupil  completes,  and 
tnce  versa. 

Experience  shows  that  the  child  has  little  difficulty  and 
is  much  interested  in  writing  these  words  and  sentences  in 
legible  script  from  the  very  outset.  On  the  other  hand, 
the  practice  of  printing  involves  a  serious  loss  of  time,  in- 
asmuch as  it  teaches  something  which  under  ordinary  cir- 
cumstances, the  child  must  unlearn  again.  For  similar 
reasons  capital  letters  should  be  correctly  used  from  the 
very  beginning. 

In  a  short  time,  the  words  thus  used  become  in  their 
turn  objects  of  interest  and  thought,  and,  consequently,  of 
analysis.  This  may  be  hastened  by  exercises  in  which 
words  of  similar  sound  are  arranged  in  sets,  orally  and  in 
writing,  e.  g. : 

dog         cat         fish  net         pot         can 

hog         hat         dish         wet         hot         man         etc 

log  fat         wish         pet         dot         pan 


BEADING   AND    WRITING.  35 

From  such  sets,  by  proper  treatment,  the  child  will 
obtain,  more  or  less  complex  sound-elements,  like  og,  at, 
ish,  et,  ot,  etc.;  and  simple  consonant  elements  like  d,  I,  h, 
etc.  These  consonant  elements  may  be  kept  before  the 
child,  on  some  convenient  part  of  the  blackboard,  in  suit- 
able arrangement,  -^  b,  c  (k),  d,  f,  g,  h,  etc.  The  chUd 
will,  then,  enjoy  games  in  word-building,  by  uniting  the 
complex  sound-elements  with  the  consonant  elements  and 
making  "  words  that  have  a  meaning."  Thus  og  will  yield 
bog,  dog,  fog,  hog,  log ;  at  will  furnish  bat,  cat,  fat,  hat, 
mat,  pat,  rat,  sat,  vat,  that,  chat ;  an  will  lead  to  can,  fan, 
man,  pan,  ran,  tan,  van,  than,  etc.  In  all  cases  the  child 
should  prove  its  findings  by  embodying  the  words  in  sviit^ 
able  sentences,  in  exercises  involving  both  speaking  and 
writing. 

By  subsequent  analytical  processes  the  complex  ele- 
ments yield  their  simpler  constituents :  og,  at,  ish,  an,  etc., 
reveal  themselves  respectively  as  o-g,  a-t,  t-sh,  a-n, 
etc.;  and  these  furnish  the  material  with  which  the  child, 
at  the  hand  of  properly  arranged  synthetical  processes, 
may  rise  to  whatever  complexity  the  language  affords. 

It  might  be  shown  now  how  the  regular  long  vowel- 
sounds  are  discovered,  and  how  so-called  irregular  spellings 
may  be  fixed  in  contrast  games,  involving  sets  of  words 
like  the  following : 


mat  -  mate 

male  -  mail 

hat  -  hate 

sale -sail 

man  -  mane 

tale -tail 

can  -  cane 

see -sea 

pan  -  pane 

feet  -  feat 

fin -fine 

meet  -  meat 

pin  -  pine 

reed -read 

etc 

etc 

86 


ILLDSTRATIONS. 


It  might  be  further  shown,  how  in  a  different  direction, 
words  may  be  contrasted  or  grouped  according  to  their 
meanings  or  their  places  in  speech,  involving  a  multitude 
of  exercises  similar  to  the  following : 

1.  good -bad  2.  up -down 
high  -  low  in  -  out 

light  -  dark  above  -  below 

straight  -  curved  before  -  behind 


3.  good  -  goodness 
great  -  greatness 
dark  -  darkness 
quick  -  quickness 

5.  snow-white 
coal  -  black 
fire  -  hot 

7.  bake -baker 
read  —  reader 
write  -  vrriter 


animal 
9.  faithful 
barks 


dog 


4.  slow -slowly 
great  -  greatly 
quiet -quietly 
sweet  —  sweetly 

6.  dog -barks 
cat  -  mews 
horse  -  runs 

8.  tastes  I   '^^^' 
I    sour 

fast 
slow 

^°°^'{  oiT^ 

fruit 
10.  yellow    y   lemon 
sour 


nms 


It  will  be  seen  that  these  suggestions,  collectively  and 
separately,  satisfy  in  every  particular  the  requirements 
indicated  on  page  23.  There  is  throughout  the  upward 
tendency  from  the  concrete  to  the  abstract,  from  particu- 
lars to  the  general,  from  the  actual  to  the  possible,  from 
the  outer  to  the  inner,  from  experience  to  principle,  from 
facts  to  law,  from  the  complexity  of  things  to  the  simplio- 


HEADING    AND    WRITING.  37 

ity  of  thought.  They  deal  throughout  with  material  which 
the  child  is  supposed  to  control  fully ;  and  all  it  learns  it 
can  at  once  apply  to  the  purposes  of  its  life,  in  arranging 
and  sifting  whatever  knowledge  it  has,  as  well  as  in  com- 
munication with  others  in  Avritten  and  spoken  language. 

Among  the  many  exercises  that  may  be  invented  in  this 
direction,  I  call  attention  to  the  use  which  the  child  may 
make  of  its  skill  in  reading  and  writing,  in  labeling  the 
collections  it  may  be  induced  to  make,  collections  of  leaves, 
of  metals,  of  stones,  of  kinds  of  wood,  of  flower-names,  of 
names  of  animals,  of  simple  conception-drawings,  of  observ- 
ations on  the  weather,  etc.,  as  indicated  on  page  29,  etc 
The  details  of  all  this,  however,  and  of  other  applications 
not  mentioned  here,  must  be  left  to  the  tact  of  the  teacher 
who  has  entered  fully  into  the  spirit  of  psychological  laws, 
and  who  has  the  courage  to  let  the  children  grow. 

As  soon  as  the  child  has  acquired  a  tolerable  control 
of  the  principal  sounds  and  letters  in  script,  certainly 
as  soon  as  it  has  accomplished  the  work  indicated  on 
page  35,  the  child  may  be  introduced  to  the  printed  let- 
ters. These  are  sufficiently  like  the  script  letters  to  recall 
them  in  the  child's  mind  almost  at  first  sight,  more  espec- 
ially if  they  appear  on  suitable  printed  cards  in  combina- 
tions or  words  with  which  the  chUd  is  familiar.  Loose 
sheets,  small  hand  charts,  little  books,  containing  very 
short  stories,  incidents,  anecdotes,  riddles,  concise  descrip- 
tive statements  concerning  plants,  animals,  and  other  ob- 
jects of  interest,  and  as  soon  as  possible,  suitable  "  story- 
books," books  of  travel,  and  books  of  reference  should  be 
provided,  so  that  the  child  may  learn  to  turn  to  the  printed 
page,  from  the  very  start,  for  legitimate  purposes  of  pleas- 
ure and  instruction. 

Henceforth,   there   should  be  a  steady  advance  in  all 


24183 


38  ILLUSTRATIOXS. 

directions.  In  gradual,  continuous  progi*ess  the  pupil  should 
be  led,  though  always  in  accordance  with  the  principles 
enounced  at  the  outset,  to  a  genuine,  self-active  apprecia- 
tion of  the  science  and  art  garnered  in  the  printed  page. 
There  should  be  exercises  in  which  the  pupil  acquires 
interest  and  skill  in  culling  knowledge  from  books,  and 
others  in  which  he  may  kindle  his  own  enthusiasm  for  the 
Beautiful,  the  True,  and  the  Good,  at  the  immortal  fires 
that  bum  in  treasures  of  literature  ;  exercises  in  which  he 
records  concisely  and  systematically  the  results  of  his  own 
observation  and  experience,  and  others  in  which  he  learns 
to  reproduce  in  beautiful,  living  speech,  for  the  enjoyment 
and  edification  of  others,  the  words  that  glowed  in  the 
innermost  heart  of  a  Past,  as  well  as  the  emotions  that 
tremble  in  his  own  breast. 

In  the  selection  of  material  for  these  purposes  it  should 
be  remembered,  however,  that  these  exercises,  like  all 
others  in  which  the  pupil  engages,  should  take  the  key- 
note, not  from  the  possibilities  of  the  subject,  but  from  the 
actualities  and  possibilities  of  the  pupil's  mental  develop- 
ment at  the  respective  stage.  To  force  or  induce  a  pupil 
to  memorize  formulas  of  knowledge  beyond  his  ken,  or  to 
reproduce  in  outer  semblance,  emotions  he  cannot  appre- 
ciate, breeds  hopeless  self-conceit  and  hypocrisy,  blunts  and 
vitiates,  or,  even,  destroys  in  his  spirit  all  that  is  meant  to 
raise  him  to  his  destiny.  On  the  other  hand,  if  the  mate- 
rial is  presented  to  the  pupil,  at  successive  stages,  in  forms 
at  which  he  can  aim  with  reasonable  hope  of  success,  in 
the  exercise  of  his  productive  activity,  he  will  in  due  time 
attain  an  all-sided  mastery  of  the  arts  involved,  commensu- 
rate with  his  powers,  and  adequate  to  the  purposes  and 
aims  of  his  life. 


DISCIPLINE.  39 

The  question  of  disciplinary  regulations  runs  through 
every  phase  of  school-work,  and  is,  consequently,  of  the 
greatest  importance.  Discipline  is  concerned  more  or  less 
directly  with  the  morals  of  the  pupil.  It  begins  when  the 
child  begins  to  become  more  or  less  consciously  a  part  of 
some  social  organism,  and  its  general  aim  is  the  intro- 
ordination  of  the  child  into  these  organisms.  It  would 
make  the  child  an  integral  part  of  the  organisms  in  quest- 
ion, Avithout  impairing  his  individual  interest  and  his  per- 
sonal liberty ;  or,  rather,  it  would  direct  the  development 
of  the  child's  individual  interests  and  personal  aspirations, 
in  harmony  with  the  welfare  of  the  social  organism. 

In  the  family,  the  common  interests  center  largely  in 
the  growing  individuality  of  the  child,  in  whom  the  family 
sees  the  promise  of  its  perpetuation.  Here  the  child  is 
introduced,  as  it  were,  to  itself ;  here  it  discovers  and  exer- 
cises its  powers  with  almost  exclusive  reference  to  the 
pleasures  of  activity.  During  the  first  years  of  the  child's 
life,  at  least,  the  disciplinary  activity  of  the  family  is  chiefly 
yielding,  provident,  protecting,  mostly  confined  to  the  ad- 
justment of  surroundings  with  reference  to  the  child's 
needs  and  wants.  This  remains  as  the  prevailing  charac- 
teristic of  the  ideal  family  throughout  the  child's  life,  and 
the  adult  child  returns  to  the  bosom  of  his  father's  house 
with  a  sense  of  trust  and  security  which  he  can  find  in  no 
other  place,  not  even  in  the  house  founded  by  himself. 

In  the  kindergarten,  the  child  is  introduced  to  its  equals ; 
and,  while  the  development  of  individual  powers  still  re- 
ceives a  very  large  share  of  attention,  the  surroundings  are 
so  adjusted  that  the  child  meets  in  the  exercise  of  its  indi- 
vidual powers,  at  every  step,  the  need  of  help  from  its 
play-fellows  and  the  opportunity  of  giving  help  to  them. 
The  activities  and  aspirations,  suggested  by  the  surround- 


40  ILLUSTRATIONS. 

ings,  constantly  point  to  the  value  of  common  efFort,  of  co- 
operation. The  successes  and  pleasures  this  society  brings, 
are  so  much  greater  and  more  intense  than  those  to  which 
it  can  aspire  single-handed,  that  there  is  born  in  the  child's 
heart  a  sense  of  gratitude  which  is  none  the  less  real  be- 
cause it  is  selfish,  a  love  which  is  none  the  less  intense 
because  it  springs  from  self-love.  In  due  time  the  child 
overlooks  the  pleasurable  reactions  of  giving  pleasure  and 
of  helping,  and  begins  to  find  a  genuine  delight  in  helpful- 
ness and  sympathy  for  their  own  sake;  and  love  whose 
roots  are  far  down  in  the  dark  soil  of  selfishness,  begins  to 
put  out  beneficent  leaves  and  blossoms  in  the  bright  atmos- 
phere of  a  generous  good-will. 

In  the  school,  the  chief  aim  of  disciplinary  regulations  is 
to  raise  this  generous  good-wUl  into  an  abiding  sense  of 
duty  or  obligation,  and  to  bring  the  conduct  under  the  con- 
scious control  of  this  sense.  Here  the  child  should  learn 
to  submit  cheerfully  to  unwelcome  restraints  and  to  engage 
with  alacrity  in  laborious  pursuits  for  the  sake  of  needed 
results.  In  a  measure  the  family  and,  more  particularly, 
the  kindergarten  have  prepared  the  child  for  this  important 
discipline,  in  leading  the  child  from  play  for  immediate 
gratification  to  work  for  the  attainment  of  remote  ends, 
very  much  simplifying  the  work  of  the  school,  wherever 
such  ideal  relations  exist.  Practically,  however,  very  few 
children  pass  through  the  kindergarten,  and  the  school  is 
compelled  to  do,  as  well  as  it  can,  much  of  the  work  prop- 
erly belonging  to  an  earlier  period,  or  to  labor  under  the 
many  trying  disadvantages  that  result  from  a  neglect  to 
establish  a  solid  foundation  of  good-wUl. 

The  proximate  end  of  discipline  is  automatic  good  con- 
duct,— good  habits ;  its  proudest  outcome  is  a  well-regulated 
will.     It  appeals,  particularly  during  the  earlier  periods  of 


DISCIPLINE.  41 

the  child's  life,  much  to  the  emotional  side  of  mental  life. 
During  the  first  period,  it  wins  through  pleasurable  sensa- 
tions, by  means  of  which  it  leads  and  holds  the  child's  at- 
tention to  whatever  it  deems  proper.  To  these  it  adds, 
at  a  later  period,  the  skillful  creation  of  desires,  whicli  by 
equally  skillful  gratification,  it  raises  to  forms  akin  to  an 
inteUigent  interest.  The  school  seeks  to  render  this  inter- 
est abiding  and  conscious,  by  a  prudent  use  of  pleasurable 
sensations  and  of  the  creation  and  gratification  of  desires  in 
connection  with  the  special  forms  of  thought  and  action 
with  which  it  is  concerned,  appealing,  however,  more  and 
more  to  the  intellect  and  the  reason,  through  which  alone 
the  wUl  can  be  reached,     (p.  13.) 

Generally  speaking,  the  discipline  of  a  school  wUl  be 
good  in  proportion  to  the  interest  it  may  have  called  forth 
on  the  part  of  the  pupil,  in  its  work.  Without  such  inter- 
est success  is  impossible.  Stagnation,  retrogression,  dis- 
integration will  surely  follow  its  abatement  or  loss.  On 
the  other  hand,  this  interest  will  render  it  a  comparatively 
easy  matter  to  secure  the  neatness,  accuracy,  persistence, 
consciousness,  regard  for  fellow-students,  and  teachers,  re- 
spect for  the  school,  and  obedience  to  its  minor  regulations 
that  are  so  necessary  to  the  success  of  the  school.  Indeed, 
sweetness  of  temper,  firmness  of  character,  learning,  skill, 
enthusiasm,  and  other  qualities  of  the  teacher  owe  their 
value  chiefly  to  their  power  in  eliciting,  satisfying,  and 
holding  interest. 

Whatever  brings  joy  to  the  child's  heart,  a  pleasing  sen- 
sation, the  gratification  of  a  harmless  desire,  the  innocent 
exercise  of  the  sense  of  power ;  whatever  makes  life  brighter 
and  fuller,  whatever  makes  existence  worth  more  to  tlie  child, 
will  be  sure  to  call  forth  this  interest.  Whatever  the  child 
can  use  for  the  purposes  of  its  life,  will  call  forth  this  interest 


42  ILLUSTRATIONS. 

It  is,  then,  in  this  respect,  the  business  of  the  school  to 
adjust  surroundings  so  that  the  child  may  have  ample 
opportunities  to  form  and  attain  worthy  purposes,  so  that 
all  it  sees  and  does  may  strengthen  these  purposes  and 
raise  them  to  higher  planes,  liberating  the  child  more  and 
more  from  the  need  of  gvudance,  and  making  it  more  and 
more  the  conscious  architect  of  its  own  fortune. 

The  details  of  this  work  should  be  arranged  and  man- 
aged with  constant  reference  to  the  criteria,  indicated  on 
pp.  18-20. 

.However,  the  ideal  conditions  that  would  render  possible 
a  school-discipline,  based  wholly  on  interest  in  the  work  of 
the  school  and  on  a  well-regulated  activity  of  the  pupils, 
are,  perhaps,  unattainable  in  practice.  The  imperfections 
of  the  teacher  and  of  the  school,  the  shortcomings  of  the 
home  and  of  the  kindergarten,  the  evil  effects  of  uncontrolled 
associations,  and,  not  unfrequently,  of  heredity,  give  rise 
to  a  host  of  unforeseen  and  unavoidable  evils  which  call  for 
more  or  less  artificial  treatment,  for  the  introduction  of 
motives  foreign  to  the  work  of  the  school,  and  for  more  or 
less  direct  compulsion  through  fear  of  punishment,  dread  of 
authority,  or  hope  of  reward. 

If  these  compulsory  means  of  discipline  are  used  humbly, 
for  what  they  are  worth,  with  the  constant  prayer  for  the 
removal  of  the  shortcomings  that  render  them  unavoidable, 
they  will  frequently  accomplish  much  good,  but  in  the  hands 
of  pride  or  self-conceit  they  do  incalculable  harm. 

The  most  pernicious  of  these  is  censiu-e  mingled  with 
words  of  contempt  or  derision.  In  the  first  place,  the  child 
deserves,  even  at  the  worst,  compassion  and  helpful  advice, 
rather  than  scorn ;  and  then,  these  words  sink  deep  into 
the  hearts  of  the  children  with  meanings  they  were  not 
intended  to  have,  embittering,  and  warping  the  disposition 


DISCIPLINE.  ,  43 

more  permanently  than  even  unjust  chastisement  with  the 
rod. 

Even  gentler  forms  of  censure  have  their  dangers,  inas- 
much as  they  involve  an  arraignment  of  motives.  The 
child  so  often  (Joes  wrong  through  ignorance  or  lack  of  judg- 
ment, with  the  best  of  motives,  and  it  needs  in  these  cases 
instruction  and  advice,  but  not  blan^e. 

However,  under  all  circumstances,  practical  as  well  as 
ideal,  the  strongest  allies  of  good  discipline  are  good  habits, 
and  these  can  be  secured  only  at  the  expense  of  con- 
stant watchfulness.  The  child  must  be  carefully  guarded 
against  opportunities  or  temptations  to  do  wrong,  for  every 
such  opportunity  or  temptation  retards  the  formation  of 
a  good  habit,  or  weakens  a  good  habit  already  formed. 
During  a  long  period,  the  child  does  indifferently  right  or 
wrong,  merely  intent  on  doing  something ;  but  what  it  does 
plants  a  tendency  in  its  mind,  which  requires  only  a  few 
similar  opportunities  to  become  an  eager  desire,  and,  ulti- 
mately, to  settle  into  a  fixed  habit.  All  that  might  give  rise 
to  such  tendencies  should  be  carefully  excluded  from  the 
child's  presence,  while  opportunities  for  harmless  or  benefi- 
cent all-sided  activity  should  be  plentifully  supplied.  Thus, 
in  due  time,  good  habits  may  ripen  into  firmness  of  charac- 
ter which  is  proof  against  temptation  from  inherent  vigor 
for  good. 


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